Dog's Day Afternoon

Sometimes the stress is just too much. Not for me, of course, but for my beloved Oliver. Imagine going from being an only child to surrogate brothers and sisters parading through your life. So, I do what all the other yuppie parents do: arrange a play date. Invest in Quality Time. Build his self-esteem by reminding him that he is special, very special.

I'm thinking deep, real deep thoughts.

At eight years old, my little guy's idea of a special, esteem-building playdate is the same as mine--anything that involves food. We are fortunate to live 45 minutes from one of the greatest towns in the  universe, as far as dogs and their humans are concerned. Carmel, home to Clint Eastwood, artists and the fabulously wealthy, was also voted  the most pet-friendly town in the United States by dogfriendly.com. And, wherever rich, intelligent people homestead, so do wonderful restaurants.
With that in mind, Oliver and I left Nickie as concierge-in-charge, leaped into the Yapmobile and jetted south. The first stop was  Forge in the Forest for lunch. This restaurant not only allows dogs on it's premises, it has a special seating area just for them and their humans. It doesn't stop there; four-legged Forge guests also have their own menu.

I'm so damn cute I just wanna scream.
I went with the Portobello sandwich while my dining companion settled on the "Run Chicken Run!" entree. I didn't make that up. While I was content to sit and wait for our lunch to arrive, Oliver was not. Too many table legs to sniff, too many chairs to mark. When our dishes arrived, I asked the server if Oliver could eat his at the table with me. He looked like that was the silliest question he'd ever heard and replied, "Of course!"

Oliver. Me. Food.

After a great knosh, it was off to window shop; to covet all that is viciously expensive. Which, in Carmel, is everything. About every other shop has a bowl of water outside for dogs, offers them biscuits and invites them to c'mon in. Our favorite store was, naturally, Diggity Dog, your upscale canine boutique. Petsmart it ain't. The coveting went into overdrive here, but we walked out with only a 95-cent cookie.

We both craved a little sugar after our fine repast, so I picked us up a dish of Zabaglione at some insanely pretentious patisserie. I'd like to say we split the custard, but it was sort of a  98%-2% share, so Oliver at least got a spoonful (Dog-Nazis, stand down. Yes, I  know sugar is bad for dogs.)
Although Carmel beach is world-famous among dog lovers due to its off-leash freedom, the day had waned and it was time to mosey on home. All in all, it was a great day; we laughed, we cried, we belched.